charges at the public library. >> you mess with m.i.t. you get good will hunting up in your grill. for the voters who were singled out because of their shirts, they were allowed to vote after other workers stepped in to clarify the situation. as for governor romney, he may have lost the election but victory will always be spelled m.i.t. on the "ridiculist." that does it for us. thanks for watching. "early start" begins now. i'm really proud of them. i'm really proud of them. and -- >> raw emotion. the leader of the free world sheds a tear as he talks, with pride, about his campaign. >> a tear or two. secrets spilled. the leak may be sealed giving up classified information for money to the makers of a video game. >> and worldwide inspiration. a new look at the pakistani teen who stood up to the taliban, and almost paid with her life. good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start," i'm

john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. nice to have you with us this morning. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. up first, 63 days and counting until we head to the fiscal cliff. if these two men cannot find a way to compromise the impact on the economy could be catastrophic. president obama delivers a big economic speech in about eight hours, and he wants tax cuts for the wealthy to extire. house speaker john boehner drawing this line in the sand. >> raising tax rates is unacceptable. and, frankly, it couldn't even pass the house. i'm not sure it can pass the senate. >> white house correspondent brianna keilar is live from washington, d.c. for us this morning. brianna, speaker boehner seemed to be offering the president on olive branch earlier this week when he talked about the possibility of increasing revenue. but here he's taking a hard stance against tax increases. what does that say about the chances of a compromise? >> well, it may actually sound kind of like it's splitting hairs. but it's really two different

things where he's talking about increasing tax rates. he says he's not okay with that. but he would be maybe okay, maybe amenable to increasing revenue. to bringing in more tax dollars, because there is a difference. and what he's saying is part of a chorus of conciliatory language that we're hearing from democrats and republicans on the hill. listen to more of what john boehner said in that interview. >> -- talk about all kinds of things we may disagree. i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work together. the election's over. now it's time to get to work. >> now obviously it's pretty complicated stuff, because we're talking about tax reform, deficit reduction. but what john boehner has said is that he doesn't want to see that top tax rate, which right now is 35%, set to increase to more than 39% at the end of the year, he's saying he doesn't want that to happen. you say how is that possible if president obama says he's going to veto anything that doesn't

include an increase for the top earners? well, the idea is you do it through tax reform. obviously you can't do that in the next few weeks. so the idea is put a framework in place. yes, the top tax rate, zoraida, as you know is 35%. but there are a lot of people who aren't paying anywhere near that. that's not their effective tax rate. so you tackle the overall tax system as a whole. some of the change comes out in the wash. there may be a way to bring in more tax dollars. it's certainly threading a needle. but that's kind of the idea here. not a lot of details yet. >> we're looking forward to that. so the president is going to make a statement today about his plan for the economy. how about the details there? do you know anything? >> i don't think in terms of what details will he lay out? i don't think we're going to get a lot of specifics? i don't think he'll be negotiating in public. but i think this is him setting the stage, talk about the economy, talking about what needs to be done to avoid the fiscal cliff and it's become all the more necessary to address that and a cbo report out yesterday says without dealing with it the economy goes back into recession.

so he's going to kind of set the tone there and i think some of this conciliatory language that we're hearing from the hill, we'll also hear from president obama, continuing on his tuesday night election night speech where he was talking about reaching across the aisle. >> all right. brianna, i want to ask you about the president getting emotional when he was speaking to his campaign staffers. this was the second time that he cried. >> yeah, that's right. and you know, this is interesting to me, because we just talked about john boehner, as you know, he's someone who really gets emotional a lot. the president, not so much, although he has of late. this is a part of a video that his campaign released of his moment where wednesday he goes to the obama campaign office in chicago to thank his supporters, his volunteers, and his staff. and here's what happened. >> you guys have done, and the work that i'm doing is important. and i'm really proud of that. i'm really proud of you.

and what -- >> and that's a moment, an emotional moment, zoraida, that i don't think we've seen something the likes of that. that was an event that was actually closed press as we call it. meaning the travel pool that accompanies the president everywhere was not allowed to go inside. that was just filmed by his campaign and released yesterday, a day after it happened. >> you know, on monday when he cried everybody was questioning was it just because he was outside and it was too cold. this was clearly very obvious. >> yep. >> brianna keilar, live for us. >> i have never seen him that emotional. >> very. >> five minutes after the hour right now. seven active members of the elite navy s.e.a.l. team six have been punished for divulging classified information. the violation allegedly occurred while the s.e.a.l.s were consultants to the makers of a video game called medal of honor

war fighter. cbs news said one of the s.e.a.l.s involved took place in the raid that killed osama bin laden. all seven had their pay docked and received a letter of reprimand. in the 8:00 hour of "starting point" we'll find out more about the punishment and what the s.e.a.l.s are really accused of divulging when we're joined by former navy s.e.a.l. commander christopher heben. >> it happened last week before election day but the pentagon is just now talking about this. iranian fighter jets firing on an unarmed air force drone in the persian gulf. pentagon officials say the drone which was conducting routine surveillance and international air space was not hit and they say iran's been told that u.s. surveillance flights in the region will continue. new developments in a long and difficult recovery from superstorm sandy here in the northeast. new york city and long island have now joined new jersey in imposing a gas rationing system. >> incredible. >> the odd/even day rationing is based on license plate numbers. mayor bloomberg and governor cuomo say it's designed to

shrink extremely long gas lines and get the fuel supply back to normal. >> poor folks. fema is sending trailers into some of the areas hardest-hit by superstorm sandy. craig fugate says they have several hundred mobile homes that are available to help all the displaced residents in new york and new jersey. he said at least 40 trailers have already been dispatched. new york and new jersey officials will determine where the houses will be placed. and ten days after the storm, hundreds of thousands of people in new york and new jersey, still in the dark. on long island the power authorities' inability to get the lights turned on in flood areas has new york's governor andrew cuomo just really ticked off. listen. >> they were specialized in doing this. and we paid them and we gave them a franchise because they represented themselves as experts at doing this. and they failed. and they should be held accountable for their failure. in the meantime, they should be doing everything humanly

possible to improve their performance, and get these people out of the pain and the suffering that they've been subjected to. >> wow. power companies say they're dealing with unprecedented damage, and they're doing the best they can. >> meanwhile, survivors dealing with some of the coldest temperatures of the season so far. so let's bring in meteorologist karen mcginnis. is there any relief in sight? >> as far as seeing any rain, snow, wind, we're finished with that. the nor'easter has mored away into the canadian maritimes. but we have that cold that is still in place. temperatures only in the 30s. but it's not just in the low to mid 30s. there's that windchill factor. in washington, d.c. feels like 38. philadelphia, it feels like 27 degrees. and in new york, 30 degrees. now we have an ireport. take a look at the snowfall that our ireporter in jersey city saw. they had about six inches worth of snowfall over the last 24 hours. there you can see the cars covered in snowfall.

he said that after about six days, they were thankful that their power was turned back on. and he was hoping after the snowfall that they would continue to see some power. but for lots of folks, tens of thousands of additional people with those 60-mile-per-hour winds lost power again. so the misery was continuing along that i-95 corridor. but the good news, zoraida, is that that has moved away. the temperatures, daytime highs, do start to moderate over the weekend. >> there's a little comfort for folks there. thank you, karen, live in atlanta for us. >> nine minutes after the hour. she was targeted because she spoke out for girls' education, freedom and opportunity. and now one month after malala yousafzai was shot in the head by the taliban there's brand-new video of the pakistani teen leader. her father says the 15-year-old girl is recovering well and she's been inspired and humbled by the thousands of cards, messages and gifts she's received. he says they help her stay strong.

terrific. >> it's great to see that video. you know, it reminds me when she's hugging the teddy bear that she's just a little girl. >> so young. >> doing amazing things. nine minutes past the hour. courtroom drama as a former congresswoman faces the convicted killer. cog up, what happened when gabrielle giffords and her astronaut husband got a chance to say something to the man who tried to take her life. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] choose the same brand your mom trusted for you. children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians the wheels of progress haven't been very active lately. but because of business people like you, things are beginning to get rolling. and regions is here to help. making it easier with the expertise and service to keep those wheels turning. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going.

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talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. welcome back, everyone. in an arizona courtroom, former congresswoman gabrielle giffords looked directly at jared lee loughner, the man who shot her. and her husband mark kelly delivered a message she said, you tried to create a world as dark and evil as your own. remember this, you failed. loughner was sentenced yesterday to six consecutive life sentences and 140 years for killing six people in last year's tucson rampage. 13 other people were wounded. in his remarks, kelly criticized politicians, including arizona governor jan brewer, for not doing enough on gun control, saying, quote, as a nation we

have repeatedly passed up the opportunity to address this issue. after columbine, after virginia tech, after tucson, and after aurora, we have done nothing. casey wian is in tucson this morning. dramatic testimony. casey, both kelly and former congresswoman giffords, they're gun owners. what changes do they really want to see in u.s. gun laws? >> john, there's a lot of talk about the issues of high-capacity magazines. these clips that can hold 30 bullets or more. loughner apparently had 100 rounds at his disposal that day in january of last year. mark kelly had very harsh words, as you mentioned, for lawmakers, including governor jan brewer. he call lawmakers here in arizona feckless on the issue of gun regulation. >> it's really unfortunate, you know, that somebody won't, you know, take, you know, take the lead on this issue. you know, gabby and i are both gun owners. you know, we're supporters of the second amendment. but i don't really believe that

that extends to high-capacity magazines, and extends to making it so easy to buy a gun in this country. we elect leaders to try to address those problems. and this problem really hasn't been addressed sufficiently. >> even the judge who sentenced loughner spoke out on this issue. he said lawmakers need to take a look at these high-capacity magazines, which used to be illegal in this country. he said loughner was actually able to buy his, the evidence showed, over the internet, with a credit card. john? >> it was so interesting, mark kelly naming names in his statement in the courtroom. it was really remarkable statement. casey, the other victims in the tucson shooting also delivered statements. at least one of them talked about loughner, the killer, his mental illness. >> yeah, the mental illness was a consistent theme throughout these victims' statements. many of them saying that they were in favor of life in prison without parole because loughner was mentally ill. they didn't think that death

penalty was an appropriate punishment. but they also lashed out at the federal government and the public for not doing enough to deal with mental illness. randy gardner was one of the victims in the shooting. he works in the mental health field. he said loughner's schizophrenia was very, very treatable, and it's up to the people that knew him to get him help, and that we as a society need to do more. pam simon, another shooting victim, she knew loughner when he was a child. >> jared, i know you did not choose this illness that led to his horrific tragedy. when you were a student at the mid school and i was a teacher there at the same time, you were a regular kid that liked music. when you were older, and the signs of your mental illness became obvious, i can only believe that you wished that someone, a parent, a neighbor, a friend, had intervened and gotten you the help you needed before it was too late.

>> nearly every one of the victims who faced loughner in court yesterday told the judge that they wanted to make sure that loughner was required to continue taking his medication for the rest of his life. they said they wanted him to be fully aware of what he did to them, and to the community of tucson. john? >> thanks, casey. what a day. i mean it sounds like a remarkably emotional day in this story in arizona. thanks so much, casey. the empathy, i think, you know, something that surprised a lot of people there. 17 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. here's christine romans with this morning's top stories. >> good morning. now that the election is over, president obama shifting his focus to the looming fiscal cliff. the president delivers a big speech on the economy this afternoon. he wants the bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. but house speaker john boehner tells abc news, quote, raising tax rates is unacceptable. just 53 days left for the lame duck congress toe get a deal done. retiring senator olympia snowe

not sounding overly confident a compromise can be reached. the maine republican is pleading with her party to find middle ground on a new spending ground. but she tells anderson cooper she don't like where things are headed. >> the more we prolong the uncertainty and unpredictability the more we're going to invite or trigger a financial crisis. but the uncertainty is certainly a dangerous -- it's dangerous and we're in unchartered waters. >> because of the dysfunction, the gridlock in washington. a u.s. border patrol agent who died last month in a shooting near the arizona/mexico border, he was killed by a gunshot wound to the head. that's according to an autopsy report. the fbi believes the death of 30-year-old agent nicolas ivey was a case of friendly fire. if you've got nesquik in the pantry, you might want to talk it out. nestle has recalled more than 200,000 canisters of the

chocolate drink mix over salmonella fears. the bad batch was made last month with an expiration date of october 2014. so far there are no reports of anyone getting sick. but salmonella in nesquik. >> i've never seen such outrage. are you a chocolate milk addict? >> no. but my child, the only way he drinks milk. so i've got to go and check that. >> october, 2014 is the date on that. >> that's why i'm outraged. >> it is 19 minutes after the hour. time for early reads. your local news making national headlines. possibility of mitt romney serving under president obama. according to the "boston herald" there's a lot of buzz, maybe a little buzz, about a possible cabinet position for the former massachusetts governor. >> it's just an interesting talker, right? >> the president did offer to sit down with mitt romney during his victory speech and he's already proposed creating a new secretary of business cabinet position, something romney dismissed during the campaign. mitt romney's close friend and adviser tom raft says quote, if there were other areas of

service, i think he, romney, will look at all of them. mitt romney's father did go into the cabinet after george romney was governor he was secretary of housing and urban development under richard nixon and you know how much mitt romney loves his father and respects him. and i do expect he will be involved with this country going forward. >> you just wonder how. i don't know that -- we'll see. all right, 19 -- 20 minutes past the hour. it might be time to rename black friday. why? because it's not even on friday anymore. the new york daily news says this, walmart will be open thanksgiving night at 8:00! that is the earliest it has ever opened for the kickoff of the holiday shopping season. sears and kmart will also be open, thanksgiving night at 8:00. they're all trying to take advantage of shoppers' hungry for deals. the national retail federation is expecting holiday spending to be up more than 4% this year. no way. i eat thanksgiving dinner and i go to sleep. >> i know people that go wait in the lines. some people love it. i don't know what's wrong with them but they love it. 20 minutes after the hour.

coming up the fiscal cliff and what it really means to you. christine romans, thankfully, will explain it all to us. ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

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the congressional budget office about what this could all do to our economy. it's not good. >> it's not good. let me tell you first what the fiscal cliff is. because you might have heard about it. let me remind you what it is. it is automatic spending cuts, and there's the car going over the edge, spending cuts, and tax increases that happen the very same time, starting in the beginning of the year. the bush tax cuts expire. everyone's tax rates go up. the alternative minimum tax, a patch to fix that. that won't be good. payroll tax holiday goes away, unemployment benefits extensions go away, and suddenly you have this moment in time where one after another things start to change, and if we're allowed to go over the fiscal cliff, you cut economic output, and the unemployment rate would rise. how much? the cbo, the congressional budget office, nonpartisan, add vieds congress on these sorts of matters, said you get half a percentage point drop in gdp. that means the unemployment rate rises sharply and quickly to 9.1%. it means there would be a

recession, companies would go out of business, people would lose their jobs, and it would be a very -- it would be a painful, painful first quarter and second quarter for the american economy. now let's talk a little bit about what the cbo is saying. they're saying that you -- that post election this has to be handled. but at the same time you can't just push it off forever because we have big debts and deficits that have to be handled or that's going to hurt the economy. so there's balancing act that a congress that seems unable to even show up, is going to have to -- we have to trust that congress is going to be able to do a very delicate balancing act and they haven't shown us that quite yet. here are the scenarios. you could extend the current policy for six months. maybe you would just say, you know, six months from now we'll handle this. that would not be good for business, quite frankly. you could fall off the fiscal cliff, stocks would dive, for four or five days. congress would get frightened and then do something. or you could have a grand bargain on deficit reduction. something that a lot of deficit

folks, hawks who watch the debt, really hope would happen. but haven't seen. >> you know, we could actually have a combination of all three of those things, too. it's not either/or for any one of them. >> probably good scenarios. the new york times this morning is saying don't let's make a deal. let's not make a deal. he says it's worse to give the republicans what they want, than to go off the fiscal cliff, quite frankly. and that's something you're hearing more from the left. they're saying it's more like a fiscal slope. it's not a fiscal cliff. you know, i'm telling you right now, if you go over this fiscal cliff the beginning of this year, companies aren't going to hire anybody. companies aren't going to invest. companies are going to sit back and wait and that means jobs -- >> how do you recover from that? >> exactly. >> we'll be talking about this for the next 53 days. christine romans, thanks very much. 27 minutes after the hour. they did it after katrina. and fema might do it again to help the victims of sandy. it's coming in the home of mobile homes. we'll tell you all about it. ♪

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housing those left homeless by sandy. fema turning to a familiar solution. but the question is, will it be a welcome one? plus a rude aquakening. tens thousands of twitter users get messages to change their passwords. find out why, straight ahead. and twins born on election day get some pretty epic names. barack and mitt. that story coming up. oh, look how cute. it's perfect on a friday morning. welcome back to "early start." we're happy you're with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm john berman. great to see you. 31 minutes after the hour. to hear john boehner tell it, reaching a compromise to avoid

the fiscal cliff should be a piece of cake. the house speaker did tell abc news he believes raising tax rates is unacceptable. and even though the president is insisting the wealthy pay more, the speaker is sounding optimistic about getting a deal done. >> talk about all kinds of things we may disagree on. i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work together. the election is over. now it's time to get to work. >> i think what boehner was saying right there is that help me help you. you know, if you don't want to have to deal with the tea party you better deal with me right now. boehner went on to say he would no longer prioritize the repeal of the nation's health care reform calling obama care the law of the land. all right, miami-dade is done but a handful of florida counties are still counting votes from tuesday's election. time's about up, though. the counties have to report unofficial tallies to the state by noon tomorrow. the results will be certified november 20th. florida democrats already

declared president obama the winner there. and mitt romney's team in florida told the miami herald their candidates lost the state. >> florida does the election their own way. beginning today, people in new york city and long island, two long island counties, will have to check their license plates to determine if they can get gas. an odd/even gas rations system in effect in an effort to reduce the long gas lines and fuel shortages in the wake of superstorm sandy. new jersey imposed gas rationing last week. >> but you can still fill those gallons. that's okay. more than 600,000 people are still without power this morning. a week and a half after superstorm sandy hit. those people are almost entirely in new york and new jersey. it has led to calls for an investigation of the area utilities. new york governor cuomo calls the power companies archaic, unprepared for sandy and the nor'easter that followed. >> there is help on the way for some of the families displaced by superstorm sandy. fema says they have several hundred trailers in its inventory in emergency supplies

and started moving some of them to the hardest-hit areas of new york and new jersey. cnn administrator craig fugate says it's not clear yet what the total demand will be. >> and while the region recovers from sandy, for many people, those who lost everything in the storm, this doesn't feel like much of a recovery to them. cnn's susan candiotti is live in asbury park, new jersey this morning. we underznd stand that you have one family's story. >> that's right. you know, as you mentioned, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people in new jersey remain without power. and a lot of those people live in coastal areas, where people still are not allowed to go back home, because they have no power. but for a few hours a day, a few are able to go back and are being allowed to start the cleanup. we made an emotional return with one couple to a place called pelican island, new jersey. with sandy's storm clouds gathering, sue evacuated. but over her objections, husband bill stayed behind. it was traumatizing.

>> rode out the storm until friday morning. friday morning i said i couldn't take any more, because they turned the gas off. when they turned the gas off, that was the end for me. i told my wife, i would walk across the bridge if i had to, but i was getting off. >> armed with a police pass, the retired new jersey fire chief, married to wife sue for 23 years, joined other residents allowed back on pelican island for a few hours to take stock of the devastation. >> what a sight, huh? >> they broken, just everything is broken down. >> that's my boat. >> this is his boat. >> ripped from a lift behind the house, the storm surge swept his boat into the street. inside the house the couple gets a look at breathtaking damage, sue for the very first time. >> oh. oh, my god.

>> this house was spotless. >> oh. >> marks on the ceiling show how high waves got inside. >> when the water was up over my knees, i thought i might be able to save something. so i put the chairs up on the top of the table. didn't do any good. >> as things got even worse, bill retreated upstairs to the couple's bedroom overlooking the bay. and huddled with his retriever, blink. >> i was never so scared in my life. >> their dream retirement home is in shambles, but with all they lost, sue is grateful she doesn't lose bill. >> the house is stones and bricks and windows and glass. i thought i lost him. and that would have been losing him would have -- would have -- would have just devastated me. i wouldn't have known how i would have gone on if i had lost him. >> come down here, expect to live the rest of your life calm,

in peace, and in one fell swoop, everything washed away. >> and bill, a former fire chief, understands the risks that he took by staying behind. and recognizes it just wasn't worth it. they, like so many other people, zoraida, have a long road of recovery. back to you. >> oh, my gosh. that was really remarkable. thank you for that story. don't you wish you could just solve all their problems? >> what an amazing couple. >> unbelievable. unbelievable. >> 37 minutes after the hour. we're going to change the tone a little bit. #oops. twitter says it went overboard during a routine security screening, mistakenly resetting the passwords of a large number of its 140 million users. in an e-mail to effective users it says it took action because some of the accounts may have been compromised by a website or service not associated with twitter. barack obama and mitt romney, brothers?

apparently it's true. twins, in fact. are you confused? a mother in western kenya says she decided to name her newborn boys, both born on u.s. election day, after the two contenders. she told the kenyan newspaper her sons names will help her remember the historic elections for a very, very, very long time. >> i'm sure it seems funny at the time. but when they get to be 15 or 16. yikes. >> all right. >> meanwhile, mitt romney, the real one, the former governor of massachusetts, didn't get the job he wanted. but he still could end up working in the west wing? really? we'll talk about that coming up. time for campbell's green bean casserole. you'll find the recipe at campbellskitchen.com. ♪ campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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welcome back. 41 minutes past the hour. a few hours from now we'll hear from president barack obama publicly for the first time since he accepted a second term. the white house announced he will make remarks in the east room this afternoon. the topic, you know, it is the economy. so i want to bring in richard

socarides, a democratic analyst and a former senior adviser to president bill clinton. and ana navarro, cnn contributor and republican strategist. nice to see you both. ana, i'm going to start with you. obama's speaking today on the economy. what do you think he's going to say? >> well, i think he's going to talk about how important it is to solve this fiscal cliff in order to keep the economy moving. i think he's going to say that the economy has been improving, but that for it not to go back, it needs to -- there needs to be a solution, a quick solution to this fiscal cliff. and i think he's going to, you know, it's an important speech. it's his first post-election speech to the american people. it's going to be, you know, all about the economy, the fiscal cliff, and let's work to the. >> so, john boehner talked to abc about fiscal cliff negotiations. let's listen. >> we talk about all kinds of things we may disagree on. i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work

together. the election is over. now it's time to get to work. >> all right. richard, you know i'm going to ask you. so john boehner is the most reasonable, responsible guy in washington, according to john boehner. do you agree with that? >> well, you know, it's a new day. and perhaps there's a new john boehner. you know, i'm optimistic, and i think that, you know, elections clarify things and so i think this shows a very positive willingness to make a deal perhaps. >> ana, do you agree with that? >> well, zoraida, let's remember what the house of representatives is like. so it's not a high threshold to be the most responsible person in washington. but i do, you know, i do think that john boehner is doing everything he can to signal he's willing to work to the. i think he received a message that the american people said that they want to see some cooperation. and i do think john boehner is a

businessman, a business oriented person who understands the economy, and understands that solving the fiscal cliff would be an important part of not having the economy go off a cliff again. now the big question is, okay, so john boehner thinks he's the most responsible person in washington. will his republican caucus feel the same way? so there could be sometimes like herding cats. >> i have another question. how about just going off the fiscal cliff altogether? some pundits like paul krugman saying we should go over the fiscal cliff. let me read this to you, republicans are trying for the third time to use economic blackmail to achieve a goal they lack the votes to achieve through the normal legislative process. this has to stop. unless we want hostage taking the threat of making the nation ungovernable to become a standard part of our political process so what should the president do? just say no, and go over the fiscal cliff if necessary. richard, do you agree? >> you know, i don't agree.

and i really think that that is not what this election -- at'sth not the message this election sent. i think people want the country to come together. and i think both sides are going to work very hard to do that. i think the republican blackmail is over. >> it seems like a very risky move. ana, would you agree with that? >> and i think it's, first not good for the country. and second not good for congress or for the president. this fiscal cliff is the first big legislative challenge they have coming out of the election. and i think it's going to set the tone for what comes afterwards. if we see that they can't work together to get this solved in a quick manner, it's a bad, bad owe men for the next three years. >> there are two more things i want to get to. the president was speaking to his campaign staffers and he got really emotional. let's watch that. >> i felt that the work that i had done in running for office had come full circle.

because when you guys had done, the work that i'm doing, is important. and i'm really proud of that. i'm really proud of you, and -- you know -- >> all right, so monday, right, he got a little teared up, everybody was questioning whether or not that was real, it was cold outside. this is unquestionable, he was incredibly emotional. why do you think? what has changed him? because he typically is looked at as aloof. >> imagine what this must feel like, being re-elected president of the united states. a very big moment for in anybody's career. the last time he'll run for office. elections change you. people -- elections, you learn things from elections. bill clinton used to say that to me. i learn something from every election that i was involved in.

and i'm sure the president's learned a lot. let's hope it will help him govern even more effectively >> were you surprised by this emotional moment, ana? >> i was. you know, he's not been known to be somebody that emotes that kind of way, particularly not in public. maybe he's been hanging out with bill clinton so much that he's -- >> ana -- >> he's learned to feel the pain. but i think it's good. the american people like to see a president that emotes, that shows feeling, that shows that side of humanity and vulnerability and i agree with richard. it's a big, big moment in his life and there's also a lot of nostalgia to it because it is his last big hurrah. >> to this last thing. the boston herald threw out this incredible idea, it may be realistic, or unrealistic. president obama's post-election offer to sit down with vanquished gop rival mitt romney has spurred talk of a possible white house role for romney. in the campaign, obama proposed creating a new secretary of business cabinet post and that could be a perfect fit for romney.

ana, is that ridiculous? >> yes. if you say so. it's so absurd i don't even know what to tell you. >> ana, but it's a great idea. you know, so long as this guy sticks to what he knows, business, i think it's a great idea. i'm completely for it. >> there's one thing we learned about this election, and it's that mitt romney and barack obama do not like each other. to suggest to president obama that he appoint people that he likes, you know, a lot of the campaign has to do with beating up on mitt romney's business record. so it would be a little weird, i think. i mean i really think it would be like channeling the -- >> we could all have swiss bank accounts. >> all right. richard socarides, ana navarro, i've got to leave it there. >> all right 40 minutes after the hour. this isn't about washington i promise. as if snakes aren't creepy enough. how about a snake with

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it's 52 minutes after the hour. get you up-to-date on some of the top stories. the texas judge whose videotaped beating of his daughter is back on the bench. he was reinstated by the texas supreme court. he was suspended las year after

a youtube video surfaced of him beating his then-16-year-old daughter with a belt back in 2004. the investigation determined too much time had passed to bring a criminal case against the judge. the chinese communist party's 18th national congress begins its second session on friday, after a decade in power, president hu is expected to hand over the party's top job to vice president x jinping. three teenage monks set themselves on fire in protest. one died. and aren't these little babies adorable? these are tentacled snakes at the national zoo in washington. they're water snakes native to southeast asia. in the wild they use those tentacles to help catch fish. the zoo has been trying for several years to breed them. last month a momma snake finally produced eight babies. >> they found the love, clearly. >> they found the love. usually i'm not into more snakes but they're cute. >> cute?

>> they're kind of cute. >> okay. >> endangered species. >> like the fiscal cliff and tentacled snakes. that's all you need to know about christine romans. >> happy friday. 53 past the hour. packed hour ahead on "early start." including he was trapped in a ravine for three days after a car accident. hear from a 19-year-old about the ordeal and how he survived it. also mcdonald's with a flag flying half mast and upside down after president obama's re-election. was this a protest or just a mistake? to infinity and beyond! reports that nasa plans to set up a manned outpost beyond the moon. a pit stop for sending man into deep space. how soon? big question, how much could that cost. former astronaut and international space station commander leroy chao joins us. >> you totally owned that piece. >> how often do you get to do that? but first inside a parallel universe.

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welcome back. it is 58 minutes past the hour. i'm zoraida sambolin along with mr. john berman. taking a look at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. we have -- >> we're getting a glimpse of what it might have looked like under a president romney. president-elect romney's transition website, it accidentally went live for a few seconds after the election. even though he did not win. politicalwire.com actually captured a few screen grabs. it's stamped with slogans like smaller, simpler, smarter and believe in america. it also includes information

about the presidential inauguration, the one that will not happen for mitt romney, and future cabinet appointees. >> ouch. all right. the late-night comedians are still having fun with the results of tuesday's election and it looks like they have plenty to work with. >> they are still counting votes in florida. as of now. yeah. they're still counting votes, even though the election is no longer in doubt and the people who cast them are no longer living. the news brought mixed reaction starting in the consumer/enthusiast community. >> whoo! >> yes, and by the way, what would it mean if you had lost the referendum? >> it means i'm going to smoke a lot of weed tonight, whoo! >> and what would it mean if the broncos beat the panthers on sunday? >> it means i'm going to smoke a lot of weed tonight, whoo! >> what would it mean if gravity

were still in effect on earth? >> it means i'm going to smoke a lot of weed tonight, whoo! >> he's consistent. >> i mentioned this a couple of days ago. i went out to vote. i was in line for four hours. four hours. and then it turned out later it was a gas line. >> there is one silver lining about mitt romney losing the election. at least now he doesn't have to move into a smaller house. you know. so that's -- >> "early start" continues right now. >> i'm really proud of them. i'm really proud of all of you. and -- >> emotion and leader of the free world sheds tears as he talks with pride about his campaign. actually his staff. >> top secret leaks.

classified information for money to the makers of a video game. >> it was cold and i said there ain't no hope for me. i asked the lord to take my life. >> against all odds a teenager survives a three-day ordeal trapped, injured, and all alone. can't wait to hear his story. good morning to you. welcome to "early start" i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm john berman. the weekend is almost here. it is 6:00 a.m. in the east. we're going to start first with creeping closer to the edge of the fiscal cliff. 53 days and counting. and if prime minister and house speaker john boehner can't meet in the middle the economy could take a catastrophic hit. the president will deliver a big economic speech today. he wants the wealthier to pay higher taxes. but boehner drew a line in the sand during an interview with abc news. raising tax rates is unacceptable. and, frankly, it couldn't even pass the house. i'm not sure it could pass the senate. >> white house correspondent brianna keilar is live from

washington this morning. brianna, senator boehner earlier in the week seemed to be offering more of an oliver branch when talking about the possibility of increasing revenue. here he gave a carrot and stick on the issue of tax increases. what does this say about the chances of a compromise? >> actually the chance of a compromise is still, i think, where it was a couple of days ago. you're hearing a lot of conciliatory language coming from democrats and republicans and we may hear some more from president obama today when he addresses the situation. listen to something else that john boehner said about how reasonable he is. >> talk about all kinds of things we may disagree on. i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work to the. the election is over. now it's time to get to work. >> now, speaker boehner did say that he does not want the tax rate to increase. right now, the top tax rate, 35% for the wealthiest earners, it's

scheduled to kick up to 39.5% here at the end of the year. so you wonder how is it possible that that stays where it is if president obama says he's going to veto anything that does not increase the top tax rate. the idea here is perhaps to work out a framework here in the next few weeks towards tax reform. overhaul the whole system. because as you know, john, there's a lot of people who, even though they kind of fall under what would be the 35% tax bracket, they don't effectively pay that. so if you kind of rework everything, some of the change comes out in the wash, you might actually increase tax revenue, tax dollars, but still not affect that tax rate. it's complicated stuff but they're trying to thread the needle here. we're still waiting for specifics as they work through this. >> i thought boehner's comments to diane sawyer were really telling. he seemed to be saying help me help you. i'm reasonable. if you don't want to have to deal with the tea party, mr. president, you better make a deal with me and do it fast. the president will speak today.

are we expecting any specifics about his plan? >> i would say no in terms of specifics. i don't think we're going to be watching him negotiate the details of the plan. i think he's sort of setting the scene for the economic challenges that the country is facing. he's going to be talking about how urgent it is for congress to take action on the fiscal cliff. that became even more obvious when the cbo came out with a report that said if this isn't dealt with the economy goes into recession next year. so i think he's going to, no, not talk about specifics, but maybe he'll continue with some of that conciliatory long that we're hearing from the hill and that we heard from him on tuesday night in chicago and election day, talking about the importance of reaching across the aisle. >> finally there was a side of the president i don't think i've ever seen before. we saw a video of him speaking to his campaign staff and really practically breaking down. >> that's right. remember when he was in iowa his last rally there was the single tear, and he's such a -- you know, especially when you say in contrast to john boehner who we

just saw who does emote quite a bit and we'll see him cry from time to time. president obama does not do that. in iowa, the single tear people wondered is it just the cold, is he really emotional? he left no doubt about that in a video that was shot during his visit to his campaign headquarters in chicago on wednesday. >> that you guys have done, the work that i'm doing, is important. i'm really proud of that. i'm really proud, and what he just said -- >> it also reveals, john, just what a hard-fought battle this was. and you know, the people who work for him, who volunteered for him and his staff, get a lot of the credit for pounding the pavement, for organizing, for knocking on doors. they put in a lot of the work that delivered this for president obama. >> all right. thanks brianna.

got to be exhausting. thanks very much. nice to see you this morning. five minutes past the hour. severe sanctions for seven active members of navy s.e.a.l. team six. they're accused of divulging classified information. the violations allegedly occurring earlier this year, while the s.e.a.l.s worked as paid consultants to the maker of a video game called medal of honor, war fighter. cbs news says one of the s.e.a.l.s involved took part in the raid that killed osama bin laden. all seven had their pay docked and received a letter of reprimand effectively ending their chances of ever getting a promotion. in the 8:00 hour of "starting point" we'll find out more about the punishment and what the s.e.a.l.s are accused of divulging when soledad o'brien is joined by former navy s.e.a.l. commander christopher heben. no response from the iranian government to pentagon claims that iran's warplanes opened fire on unarmed u.s. surveillance drone in the persian gulf. the incident happened last week just days before the election. pentagon officials say the drone was flying in international th

say. the u.s. has told iran that surveillance flights in the gulf will continue. there are new regulations now in place at gas stations in new york city, and in long island's two counties. they've joined new jersey in imposing an odd/even gas rationing system based on license plate numbers. mayor bloomberg and governor cuomo say it is designed to shrink extremely long gas lines and get fuel supplies. but if you have a gallon you can go and fill it any time. >> fema trailers are being dispatched to some of the hardest-hit areas by superstorm sandy. craig fugate said they have several hundred homes available. he said at least 40 trailers are on the way right now. new york, and new jersey officials will determine where those houses will be placed. it is a slow road to recovery. more than 600,000 people in new york and new jersey are still in the dark. this is a week and a half after the storm. on long island the power authorities' failure to get the

lights turned on in flooded areas has angered new york governor cuomo. >> they were specialized in doing this. and we paid them and we gave them a franchise because they represented themselves as experts at doing this. and they failed. and they should be held accountable for their failure. in the meantime, they should be doing everything humanly possible to improve their performance and get these people out of the pain and the suffering that they've been subjected to. >> long island power authority says they hope to get almost everyone back online by next week. >> we're still without power where i am. i do understand the frustration. lucky enough to have a generator. but still it's a long, long time. they were some of the coldest temperatures of the year last night. let's bring in meteorologist karen maginnis. >> we are looking at temperatures moderating. but we do start out the mornings very chilly with temperatures

only in the 30s. there is a windchill factor as we watch the nor'easter exit and move into the canadian maritimes it feels like it's 31 degrees in new york city. we had an ireporter, he was in jersey city, and he shot the pictures of the six-plus inches of snowfall there. well, by this weekend, as those temperatures creep up to close to 70 degrees, the snow is going to be gone. but this is going to allow a little bit of a break for folks to clean up, and start rebuilding their lives after this exacerbated misery, has been heaped along that i-95 corridor. >> all right, karen, thanks so much. >> listen to this story. an alabama teenager who spent three days trapped in a ravine following a car accident is recovering from his injuries this morning. his name is tyler campbell. >> it was cold. and i said ain't no hope for me. i asked the lord to take my

life. >> he's tough. but god brought him up out of that ditch and he allowed that truck driver to see him. and i thank that man for stopping. >> imagine how terrible that must have been that he said he asked the lord to take his life. tyler dislocated his shoulder and broke his leg. to stay alive he drank water that had pooled up in a broken headlight on his mangled truck. he was spotted by the truck driver after crawling his up to the highway guard rail. boy. strong constitution in that young man. >> lucky and a tough kid. ten minutes after the hour right now. courtroom drama as the former congresswoman faces her convicted killer. coming up, what happened when gabrielle giffords and her astronaut husband got a chance to say something to the man who tried to take her life. d 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping you reach your financial goals.

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face-to-face. former arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords takes a long look at jared loughner, the man who tried to kill her. during loughner's sentencing yesterday giffords' husband mark kelly delivered this message to loughner. you tried to create a world as dark and evil as your own. remember this, you failed. loughner was sentenced yesterday to six consecutive life sentences and 140 years for killing six people in last year's tucson rampage. 13 other people were wounded. kelly at one point criticized politicians, including arizona governor jan brewer, for not doing enough on gun control, saying, quote, as a nation we have repeatedly passed up the opportunity to address this issue. after columbine, after virginia tech, after tucson, and after aurora, we have done nothing. casey wian is in tucson this morning. very dramatic testimony casey.

both kelly and former congresswoman giffords, they're gun owners. what changes specifically do they want to see in u.s. gun lay? >> well, zoraida, you're right. it was very emotional testimony yesterday. and a lot of talk about gun regulation. and specifically what mark kelly brought up is this issue of high-capacity magazines that can hold 30 rounds. loughner apparently had somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 rounds on that day. which allowed him to shoot so many different people. mark kelly, as you mentioned, had harsh words for lawmakers here in the state of arizona. he called them feckless on the issue of gun regulation. >> it's really unfortunate, you know, that somebody won't, you know, take, you know, take the lead on this issue. you know, gabby and i are both gun owners. you know, we're supporters of the second amendment. but i don't really believe that that extends to high-capacity magazines, and extends to making it so easy to buy a gun in this country.

we elect leaders to try to address those problems. and this problem really hasn't been addressed sufficiently. >> now even the judge who sentenced loughner said he didn't want to be political but he urged lawmakers to re-examine this issue of these high-capacity magazines. he said the evidence shows that loughner bought his with a credit card over the internet. the judge said that was far too easy. >> and the other victims of a tucson shooting delivered statements. at least one of them talked about loughner's mental illness. can you share some of that with us? >> absolutely. almost all of them spoke about his mental illness. many of them saying that that's why they favored life in prison without the possibility of parole, because he does have schizophrenia. they favored that over the death penalty. one man, randy gardner, who was shot in the foot, talked about how he used to work in the mental health field. and loughner's condition would have been very treatable if someone would have just got him the medication, got him the help that he needed.

pam simon also knew loughner when he was a child. >> jared, i know you did not choose this illness that led to his horrific tragedy. when you were a student at the middle school and i was a teacher there at the same time, you were a regular kid that liked music. when you were older, and the signs of your mental illness became obvious, i can only believe that you wished that someone, a parent, a neighbor, a friend, had intervened and gotten you the help you needed before it was too late. >> now the issue of loughner and medication and his mental illness has been at the center of this entire case. there were court rulings about whether he could be -- he had to be -- he could be required to take his medication. he is being required to take his medication. the judge specified in the sentence that he wanted him in a

prison where he would continue to get his medication for the rest of his life. so he is lucid. the victims also said they want him to receive the medication, so he's fully aware throughout his lifetime prison sentence of what he has done to these victims. >> casey wian live in tucson for us. thank you for that report. >> what a day that must have been. 17 minutes after the hour. christine romans here with the headlines. >> good morning, again. after tuesday night's big win, president obama turning his attention now to the fiscal cliff. the president delivers a big speech on the economy this afternoon. he wants the bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy to expire. but house speaker john boehner tells abc news, quote raising tax rates is unacceptable. just 53 days left for the lame duck congress to get a deal done. someone might have turned a crash into cash. after this brinks truck wrecked in north carolina. now the highway patrol, you guys, claimed all the money that spilled onto the highway after this two-vehicle wreck, all of it had been recovered.

but brinks says more than $40,000 are still missing. and it's not as woolly as it used to be, but french scientists found an almost complete skeleton of a woolly mammoth. near paris. >> wow. >> this is a rare find in france. they've named it helmet. it could be anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 years old. how do you say cool in french? helmut. i bet they don't call it helmet. but it's spelled helmut. >> thank you, christine. quite a find. 19 minutes past the hour. musical glove is teaching people how to play the piano just by wearing it. >> this could help people with spinal cord injuries regain their hands. joe carter has this technovags. >> wearing a glove may not make a dance like michael jackson. but it could teach you how to play music.

>> this is the music tough glove. it's going to teach you how to play a piano melody without you paying attention to it. >> reporter: created by students and professors at georgia tech the glove uses vibration to teach your fingers the notes of a song. so you're going to teach me how to play o susannah. i've got zero experience. never played before. >> we will have you wear the glove for hopefully around 30 minutes or so. you can be reading your e-mail or jogging or talking with me and the system will tap your fingers over and over again in the sequence of notes that you need to play the song. >> glove's off. ♪ >> everything except the end. >> yeah. >> along with teaching people how to play music, the glove could also be used to help people. >> this could be used to help people with partial spinal cord injuries recover some of the sensation and some of the dexterity in their hands. up to a year post-injury.

>> like rick lynch, a quadriplegic who participated in an eight-week study, wearing the glove about two hours a day helped him improve his typing skills. >> rather than just using one finger to type, now i'm trying to use two fingers on one hand. this allowed me to not only regain some dexterity but also learn you to to play the piano. >> joe carter, cnn, atlanta. >> amazing. >> that's really cool. >> 21 minutes past the hour. coming up, the fiscal cliff. and what it really means to you. christine romans is going to explain it all to us. ♪ atmix of energies.ve the world needs a broader that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity...

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we're minding your business this morning. 53 days until the fiscal cliff. there are several different scenarios for how this could play out depending on what congress and the white house can agree on. >> christine is here to explain it all. >> of the 100 scenarios, 99 are bad. let me explain the fiscal cliff. policymakers are starting to lay out find of the framework for how they're going to discuss it. this morning a really interesting op-ed in "the new york times" from paul krugman. the economist saying don't make a deal, mr. president. let's go over the fiscal cliff. this is what he said, mr. obama should hang tough, declaring himself willing, if necessary, to hold his ground, even at the cost of letting his opponents inflict damage only a still shaky me. this is definitely no time to negotiate a grand bargain on the

budget that snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. he also says if we go over the fiscal cliff it would hurt rich republican donors the most, and that would be fine, as long as you don't -- you don't cave on taxes for the wealthy. what is the fiscal cliff? it's spending cuts, all begins at the beginning of the year, a bush tax cuts expire, that means everyone's taxes would rise. alternative minimum tax patch goes away, the payroll tax holiday goes away. unemployment extension goes away. the congressional budget office says it would certainly push the u.s. into a recession. no one wants us to go there. the problem now is figuring out how to fix it. possible scenarios. you could have congress kick the can down the road. just extend current policy for six months. that would cast a shadow over the business community. you could fall off the fiscal cliff like paul krugman is suggesting. stocks would dive. i don't know how many days it would take them to do something

and then boom congress would move and you could have this grand bargain on deficit reduction. they need a budget. they need to agree on how we're going to spend our money and invest. that's what these two have to agree on. what does it mean for you? if you go off the fiscal cliff, middle income households would have an average tax increase of $2,000. the cbo says just raising taxes on the rich, just doing that, just raising taxes on the rich, wouldn't really hurt the economy all that much. that's getting a lot of attention this morning from that cbo policy. that would suggest that democrats are on the right track. >> what's the one thing we need to know about our money? >> u.s. stock futures are down this morning. and what are the early morning market watchers saying? they need to see more signs of progress on the fiscal cliff. that's why stocks are down. 400 points over the last couple of days. >> it's time. do something. >> it's time. >> all right. 27 minutes after the hour. fema did it after katrina and might do it again to help the victims of sandy. it's coming in the form of

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running on empty. new rules in new york to try to ease the gas crisis brought on by sandy. worldwide inspiration. a new look at the pakistanny teen who stood up to the taliban. and a mcdonald's restaurant flies an american flag at

half-staff and upside down. but, it's not as sinister as you think. the story behind these pictures this hour on cnn. welcome back to "early start," everyone. i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. 31 minutes past the hour. so, if you listen to house speaker john boehner, a compromise with democrats too avoid the fiscal cliff should be a cinch. yesterday the house speaker did tell abc news that he believes raising tax rates is unacceptable. and even though the president is insisting, the wealthy pay more, the speaker is sounding positive about getting a deal done. >> talk about all kinds of things we may disagree on. i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work together. now the election's over. now it's time to get to work. >> boehner went on to say he would no longer prioritize a repeal of the president's health care reforms, calling obama care the law of the land. so miami-dade is done but a

handful of florida counties are still counting votes from tuesday's elections. time is about up, though. the counties have to report unofficial tallies to the state by noon tomorrow. the results will be certified november 20th. now cnn hasn't called florida yet. but democrats there already declared president obama the winner and mitt romney's team in florida told the miami herald that they think they're candidate won the state. this morning people in new york city's five boroughs and long island's two counties will have to check their license plates to see if they can fill up with gasoline. an odd/even gas rationing system takes effect today. new jersey imposed the same gas rations just last week. these new regulations are an effort to reduce the long gas lines and fuel shortages in the wake of superstorm sandy. more than 600,000 people are still without power this morning. a week and a half after superstorm sandy. those people are almost entirely in new york and new jersey. it's led to calls for an investigation of the area utilities. new yorker governor andrew cuomo called the power companies

archaic and unprepared for sandy and the nor'easter that followed. >> there is help on the way for some of the families displaced by superstorm sandy. fema says it has several hundred trailers in its inventory of emergency supplies and has started moving some of them to the hardest-hit areas of new york and new jersey. fema administrator craig fugate said it's not clear what the total demand will be. for people along the jersey shore this doesn't feel much like a recovery yet. cnn's susan candiotti is live in asbury park, new jersey this morning. she has one family's stunning story. >> good morning, john. i think this is the coldest morning since the superstorm and the nor'easter. in some of the hardest-hit areas where there is still no power and the homes are basically unliveable. authorities are slowly allowing some people to go back to their homes to start to clean up and retrieve some personal items. we went back with one couple who found their retirement home in

shamb shambles. with sandy's storm clouds gathering, sue evacuated, but over her objections, husband bill stayed behind. it was traumatizing. >> rode out the storm until friday morning. friday morning i said i couldn't take any more, because they turned the gas off. when they turned the gas off, that was the end for me. i told my wife, i would walk across the bridge if i had to, but i was getting off. >> armed with a police pass, the retired new jersey fire chief, married to wife sue for 23 years, joined other residents allowed back on pelican island for a few hours to take stock of the devastation. >> what a sight, huh? >> they broken, just everything is broken down. >> that's my boat. >> this is his boat. >> ripped from a lift behind the house, the storm surge swept his boat into the street. inside the house the couple gets

a look at breathtaking damage, sue for the very first time. >> oh. oh, my god. >> this house was spotless. >> oh. >> marks on the ceiling show how high waves got inside. >> when the water was up over my knees, i thought i might be able to save something. so i put the chairs up on the top of the table. didn't do any good. >> as things got even worse, bill retreated upstairs to the couple's bedroom overlooking the bay. and huddled with his retriever, blink. >> i was never so scared in my life. >> their dream retirement home is in shambles, but with all they lost, sue is grateful she doesn't lose bill. >> the house is stones and bricks and windows and glass. i thought i lost him. and that would have been losing him would have -- would have --

would have just devastated me. i wouldn't have known how i would have gone on if i had lost him. >> come down here, expect to live the rest of your life calm, in peace, and in one fell swoop, everything washed away. >> and bill, a former fire chief, bill's job was to save lives. now that he and his wife are facing a long road to recovery, he hopefully will have help and support from his family and a lot of other people. back to you, john. >> thanks so much, susan. our hearts go out to that family and all the others still suffering in all these hard-hit areas. thanks a lot. >> 37 minutes past the hour. and one month after her attempted assassination, brand-new video of pakistani teen malala yousafzai. her father says that she is recovering well. and that she has been inspired and humbled by the thousands of cards, all the messages and all the gifts that she has received. he says they help her stay strong.

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welcome back. soledad o'brien joins us with a look at what is ahead on "starting point." >> those seven navy s.e.a.l.s have been punished after their involvement in a video game. what secrets are they spilling? we're going to talk with a former navy s.e.a.l. about the potential national security risk there. plus with president obama back in the white house, and governor

romney officially out, republicans are now looking at where they went wrong. there are some who say, you know, if jon huntsman had been the nominee, the moderate jon huntsm huntsman, he'd be in the oval office. we'll talk to his daughter abby huntsman about that. and move over politics, it's all about paulytics. that would be comedian pauly shore. he'll join us with his take on political humor. that's all ahead this morning at 7:00 a.m. >> always good to start your morning with some laughs. so thank you for that. >> yes, yes. >> all right, john? >> i just want to hear her say pauly more. >> like what? i'm from long island. i can do the whole thing. >> make it stop. the re-election celebration is over. now it's time to get back to business. later today, president obama will speak publicly from the white house for the first time since he accepted his second term. since his victory speech. the topic today is the economy. so i want to bring in richard socarides, a democratic analyst and former senior adviser to bill clinton, and ana navarrnav.

a cnn contributor and republican strategist. we're going to hear from the president today on the economy. as he takes the podium, he was greeted with new comments from john boehner to diane sawyer. let's listen to the republican speaker. >> talk about all kinds of things we may disagree on. i'm the most reasonable responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work together. now the election is over. now it's time to get to work. >> now, talking about forging some kind of deal on the fiscal cliff. and those words, ana, were really interesting to me. it seemed to me that the speaker was saying help me help you. if you don't want to have problems with the tea party in congress you better start dealing with me now, mr. president. what did it sound like to you, ana? >> it sounded exactly like that. i think it's interesting to see all of this public preamble of a negotiation going on in front of our eyes, in front of the cameras, in front of the world. you know, these guys are saying a lot of things to each other, in public, we don't know what

they've said to each other if anything yet in private. that's yet to be seen. i think john boehner is a reasonable, responsible person. and i think he has the hardest job in washington. he's got to negotiate with the white house and then he's got to negotiate with his republican caucus in congress. i'm not sure which of those two is harder. >> could he sell tax increases? could he sell letting the bush tax cuts expire for the wealthy to a republican house? >> i think it would be very, very difficult with his caucus. but we'll see. we'll see. you know, john when you're starting a negotiation, i think there's a few things that are off the table but both of them have to start from a place of yes, instead of a place of no. we'll see if that happens. >> in terms of where they're starting, paul krugman, a liberal editorial writer in "the new york times." and an economist himself, he has a column out today where he talks about what the democrats should be willing to do, willing to give up. it's called let's not make a deal.

krugman says republicans are trying for the third time to use economic black mail to achieve a goal they lack the votes to achieve through the normal legislative process. he goes on, so what should the president do? just say no and go over the fiscal cliff if necessary. he's saying, you know, if you can't get the republicans to agree on raising taxes on the wealthy or letting the bush tax cuts expire, go over the cliff. is that a good place to start from? >> i don't think it's a good place to start from. i also don't think it's a good place to end up. i don't think that's the message the president got from the election. i don't think that's the message the american people have sent with the election returns. imy americans want us to make a deal and to move forward. on the other important problems that face us. and i think with respect to the speaker, if he can't get a deal from his caucus, you know, it may be time for him to move on. he needs to -- he needs to bring republicans together around a sensible proposal just like the democrats need to compromise.

>> but back to the rez quickly here. you seem to be saying the president should cave on the taxes to the wealthy. >> i don't think he should cave. but i think that this moment that we face, this economic moment we face, is an important one for the country to get through. and i think after the election both sides have to be willing to compromise. >> let's talk a little bit more about the president. there's some video that came out overnight of the president behaving a way i frankly have never seen before. it's of the president speaking to his campaign supporters in the campaign office on wednesday, the day after the election. let's take a look. >> i felt that the work that i had done in running for office had come full circle. because, what you guys had done, and the work that i'm doing, is important. and i'm really proud of that. i'm really proud of all of you.

and -- >> he's not an emotional guy. that was a whole lot of emotion. >> it was a very poignant moment. but you can imagine what it must feel like to be re-elected president of the united states. the last election he'll ever run. he's barred from running again. and he's thanking his staff members. i'm sure it was very emotional. these elections are very emotional, you're geared up the whole time, and then when they end, there's this emotional release. so i think you really saw that at that moment. >> and do you elect a new emotional president? >> i tell you it's a little surreal when you see video of president obama crying and video of john boehner not crying. so you know, but i do. i think, you know -- i also think it tells you that he's more comfortable showing his human side, his vulnerabilities. something that he hasn't done in the past. and i also think it tells you that he is feeling somewhat free, after this election, and not having to stand for

re-election ever again. >> ana navarro, thanks so much. richard socarides, nice to have you here in the studio. we'll be talking fiscal cliff probably for the next 53 days. parents listen up, if you have nesquik in the pantry you might want to toss it out, not mix it with milk this morning. nestle has recalled more than 200,000 canisters of the chocolate drink mix over salmonella fears. the bad batch was made last month with an expiration date of october 2014. october 2014. will be on the can. so far, there are no reports of anyone getting sick. an upside down american flag at half-staff at a west virginia mcdonald's spotted right after the presidential election is being called an unfortunate mistake, not a political statement. the franchise owner insists this was not done on purpose. she said a flag cable broke, turning this flag upside down. angry passersby called local officials and tv stations to complain about this.

a local station reported that it was fixed later in the day. >> 48 minutes past the hour. decades after the eagle first landed nasa wants to take man back on the moon. and then beyond. former space station commander leroy chow joins us right after the break. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪

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welcome back to "early start." a stunning photo from the hubble telescope, nasa has nicknamed this the tadpole galaxy. a long stream of stars appears to be racing through space behind the galaxy. scientists say it was created by some sort of cosmic collision between two galaxies. could astronauts be headed back to the moon?

a space policy expert told space.com that plans are in the works by nasa to set up a manned outpost just beyond the moon that would help scientists learn about deep space travel. and eventually be used as a staging area for future missions to deep space. former astronaut and international space station commander leroy chiao is joining us to explain all of this to us this morning. and i wanted to start with the location. because this is interesting. nasa has in mind for this outpost to be in an area that is beyond the moon. it is called earth moon point. the spot is about 38,000 miles from the moon, 277,000 miles from the earth. further than any manned space mission has ever gone before. sounds really far. what is special about that? and why build an outpost there? >> there are a number of different earth moon libration

points and it's the space where all the objects are in balance so it would take very little fuel to keep an object in that area. so if you're going to build a station at one of the points between the earth and the moon or beyond the moon, you would pick a libration point. >> you spent six months living on the international space station. this location would be far more dangerous we understand for an astronaut's health. could you tell us why? >> sure. he you're in low earth orbit you're under the protection of the radiation belt, a charged -- it's an electric field, if you will, and it traps a good portion of the charge particles of radiation that come from the sun. so we're pretty well protected. once you get past about one-third of the way to the moon you're beyond those belts and the radiation environment is much, much harsher, and so an astronaut on the moon, for example, or past the moon, would be exposed to the full force of that radiation. you worry about solar flares. if there's a solar event you get a sudden pulse of very high radiation, which could be acutely lethal. >> so you actually think that it

would make more sense to build a man tended base on the moon. why is that? >> well you can do so much more on the surface of the moon. the biggest technical challenge to traveling beyond low earth orbit and farther is biomedical issues. you've got to figure out how do you keep astronauts healthy in that environment? a station like that would help you to study that. but you'd also get the same effect on the moon. you could also test other operational things. you could test your hardware, your habitats, your space suits, your rovers, operations concepts. you'd be killing more than one bird with that stone. i understand, you know, of course it would be more expensive to build a crew-tended base on the moon rather than a station out in space at a libration point, but you get so much more if you build a crew-tended base on the moon. >> my last question is money. as you mentioned this costs a lot of money. who pays for it? >> sure. well, of course, the government, taxpayer would pay for this. but i want to remind you, nasa's

budget historically has been, you know, right around or less than 1% of the federal budget. so you know, even with that we are able to do what weigh do. and i don't want people to get this misperception that a significant portion of the budget goes to the space program, because it doesn't. >> all right. well we appreciate your perspective this morning. thank you very much for joining us. lee row chiao former nasa astronaut. thank you, sir. today's best advice right after the break.ce ittle trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%.

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we're just about done here. as always we wrap it up with best advice. >> friday edition. today we hear from former new jersey governor christie todd whitman. >> probably the best advice i could do anything i wanted to do as long as i was willing to work hard for it. >> work hard for it. congress, do you hear that? work hard for it, please. >> did you hand pick that one? have a great weekend. that's all for "early start." i'm john berman. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. >> "starting point" starts right now. >> welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning. approaching the fiscal cliff. president obama will give his first major speech today since his re-election. and it's all about the economy. will we see a compromise soon? this as the president fights away tears as he thanks his campaign team. listen.